The present invention relates to playing card and board games over a communications network and, in particular, to controlled displaying of advertisements on one or more computer screens.
The Internet is being accessed by users for a variety of objectives including to socially and competitively interact with others as a form of entertainment. The playing of card and board games over the Internet (on-line games) enables players to enjoy the game with others who may reside at distant locations from each other, as well as permit them to chat while playing the game.
In some cases, each player is charged a direct fee for playing the on-line card and board game. This fee can have the effect of reducing the number of players who would otherwise want to play these on-line games. As with some other forms of entertainment, advertising of products and services has been used to limit or eliminate fees that might be charged to users or viewers in order to financially support the particular entertainment, such as television programs. In essence, the entity intended to be benefitted by the advertising assumes the costs associated with providing the entertainment service.
Typically, control over display of the advertisement is exclusively the domain of the presenter of the advertisement. That is, the viewer or user cannot initiate the start or terminate the advertisement provided by a particular media channel. The user or viewer could switch to another media channel or turn off the media channel having the advertisement in order to terminate the advertisement to that particular viewer. However, returning to the media channel having the advertisement would still result in its presentation until the entity responsible for the advertisement terminated it.
Advertisements are currently provided using the Internet. This on-line advertising includes display of advertisements at the same time other information is being displayed. Such advertisements are provided, for example, along the border(s) of the computer screen. Additionally, advertisements are displayed when playing on-line games. When playing a question and request-for-answer on-line game, it is known to interrupt the series of questions that are presented on the computer screen with an advertisement that continues for a predetermined time period and then further questions are posed for the player""s response.
Even though on-line advertising is presently occurring, in light of the circumstances involving multiple players playing the same card or board game, previous advertising protocols and presentations would not be optimum. When playing on-line card or board games, it is important that the advertising not be intrusive or interfere with the game playing. The advertisement should benefit those players who wish to take advantage of the advertisement, while reducing the effect on those players who have little or no interest in the particular advertisement.
In accordance with the present invention, a system and method for providing advertisements while on-line card and board games are being played are provided. The system includes a database server for storing information related to advertisements that are to be provided to the on-line players. The database server also maintains advertising data and other information related to the use of the advertisements. The information related to the advertisements includes a reference or universal resource locator (URL) that allows the system to access the advertisement having the particular URL when the advertisement is to be displayed or otherwise provided. In this way, the advertisements themselves need not be stored with the database server. The advertising data or other information includes advertising accounting or activity data. Such activity data relates to, for each advertisement, when it was provided to the player and what response, if any, the player made when the advertisement was presented.
The system can include a database controller that communicates with the database server. The database controller is able to input the advertisement-related information, including new, modified or otherwise updated advertisements that are expected to be presented to the players. Additionally, such a database controller could access the database server to obtain advertising data indicative of the results of the particular advertisement, including whether or not the advertisement was acted upon by the player, for example, requesting additional information concerning the product and/or service that was associated with the advertisement.
The system also includes at least one game server. The game server has ultimate control over the game being played by one or more client machines, which communicate with the game server. Preferably, the game server is responsible for a single game that it downloads or otherwise sends to the one or more client machines that have access or are linked with the particular game server. For example, the game server may control play of a card game and download game information including game graphics to the client machines that the players will use to play the particular on-line card game. Preferably, the communication links between the game server and the client machines include the Internet.
With respect to the communications between the database server and the game server, the system preferably includes an advertisement (ad) server that is responsible for advertising-related communications with the game server. In one embodiment, when the game server receives advertising information, it determines that it is not responsible for handling such received information. This advertising information is then received by the ad server which does assume responsibility for taking control thereof. Alternatively to this foregoing chain-type configuration for deciding on responsibility for the received advertising information, the game server could exercise overall control. When advertising is received, it recognizes this information and passes it on or otherwise utilizes the ad server in connection with taking the proper action or control over the advertising information. For example, the game server determines that information related to advertisements is being received from the database server and the game server passes this advertising-related information to the ad server for handling including appropriate communications with one or more client machines. When advertisement-related information including statistical data is transmitted from the client machines, such control and protocol options could be selected for handling the responsibility of such information, including having the ad server directly communicating with the client machines. The ad server could also perform all or some of the functions associated with the optional database controller.
Although the client machines can include different components for performing a variety of functions, each client machine typically includes a computer processor, computer memory, a terminal or display screen, and one or more input devices, such as a keyboard and/or a mouse. The client machine communicates with the game server, which is able to download the version of the card or board game associated with the particular game server. The on-line game downloaded to the client machine includes executable software for playing the card or board game, which commonly has software-generated game graphics presented on the computer display screen. During the playing of the on-line game by the player of the client machine, game elements or items are displayed on the computer display screen that are typically manipulatable or otherwise activated by the player in playing the card or board game. Eventually, a player using one of the client machines that is playing the card or board game causes a game finishing function or activity. Immediately upon detection of this game finishing function, the game server validates its occurrence and thereby enables each client machine to provide the current advertisement to the player who is playing the on-line game that was just completed, to those who are observing the game and/or to those who are waiting to join in the next game. This advertisement can be provided by displaying text, audio, video and/or other graphics on the computer display screen. The advertisement promotes or otherwise provides information concerning one or more products and/or services identified by the advertiser. Preferably, the current or scheduled advertisement is displayed with the results of the just-completed on-line game. The game results, such as points achieved by each player or other game result parameters, are displayed on the computer screen including the identification of the player having the particular game results. In one embodiment, the current advertisement is displayed just above the game results in the center of the computer screen.
The current advertisement displayed immediately after completion of the on-line card or board game is displayed for at least a minimum predetermined time interval. During this time interval, each player through the respective client machine does not have control over the removal or termination of the particular advertisement then being displayed, except for a player""s usual options, such as exiting the program or turning off the client machine. During this predetermined time interval, the player can elect to receive information related to the advertisement by xe2x80x9cclicking onxe2x80x9d or otherwise selecting the advertisement. This indication of interest by the player preferably results in the system initiating further activity, including inquiring as to whether this player wishes to have further information sent, such as by mail, telephone, and/or by e-mail. Preferably, such options do not to permit the player to exit the game environment in order to receive more information about the advertisement. This option would slow game play and would likely be disruptive to other players, particularly where the on-line card or board game being played is a multi-player game.
Advertisement statistical data associated with the display of the advertisement is also stored with the database server, including the identity of the advertisement and what occurred when the advertisement was displayed, for example, whether or not one or more players expressed an interest in the advertisement. At the end of the predetermined time interval during which the player has this lack of control over the display of the advertisement, the client machine can then exercise control over continued display of the particular advertisement. That is, the computer screen displays an inquiry or prompt advising the player that he may elect to continue playing the on-line game or exit the game-playing environment. Once all players of the preceding game have decided, for example, to continue playing the on-line game, a new hand or setup of the same card or board game is displayed. As can be appreciated, depending upon the elections made by each player having the current advertisement on the player""s client machine, such advertisement may be displayed longer on one client machine than on another player""s client machine. Furthermore, before establishing a setup for the next game, each player waits until the last player of the previous game has made an election concerning whether or not to continue play.
Playing of the same game with a new setup then begins. As before, the game server continues to check whether or not a game finishing function has occurred. When this function is detected, the next advertisement is displayed. Preferably, this next advertisement has already been previously stored in the client machine computer memory during the play of the game. This advertising process continues through the playing of successive initiations and playing of the same on-line card or board game, where the players continue to elect to continue playing.
In addition to the advertisement displayed immediately at the completion of play, a further embodiment for advertising involves continuous or persistent display of one or more advertisements. Such continuous advertisements rely on game elements or objects that are continuously displayed while the game is being played. By way of example, when a card game is the game being played, the backs of the displayed cards can include one or more advertisements that present an entity""s name, product and/or service. Other card or board game elements that can have advertisements include animated advertisements, illustrated money chips or tokens, table felt, other background material to the game being played, board game areas or board pieces utilized in playing the board game. When this other form of advertising is utilized, the database server also stores such advertisements, which include correlating control information that associates the advertisement with particular game elements or game graphics. In particular, when such advertisement information is received by the client machine, the downloaded software recognizes such information and associates it with the particular game element or elements in connection with generating the combination of the game element(s) and advertising that are displayed on the computer screen during the playing of the on-line game.
Based on the foregoing summary, a number of salient aspects of the present invention are readily seen. Advertisements can be displayed without interrupting on-line card or board game play. There is no intrusive or distracting advertisement while the game is played and immediately after the game is finished, the advertisement is presented to the players for a limited time. Preferably, the advertisement achieves its main objective of promoting products and services in the context of also displaying the results of the game that was just finished. Additionally, high-quality advertising can be displayed at the same time the game is being played using game objects or elements, such as cards, chips, banners, buttons, background materials, and/or board pieces. These game elements can be controllably correlated or associated with desired advertisements prior to the game being played. One method of control that focuses additional user attention to the game objects or elements that serve as advertisements is to create or have the game objects or elements first appear in the advertisement. Those objects or elements would be animated to move from the advertisement to the game, becoming an object or element used in the game. Game objects or elements can also be animated to move from the game into the ad, becoming part of the ad itself. Another method of control that focuses additional user attention to the game objects or elements that serve as advertisements is animation of the game objects or elements within the game itself. Upon certain actions or appearances of those game objects or elements, a user could respond. The advertisements themselves could inform the users which actions or appearances of game objects or elements warrant a response, the type of user response desired or accepted and the result of the user response. Accounting or informational records related to the advertisements are maintained. Such records can include the identity of the advertisement, when the advertisement was displayed, and how each player responded to the advertisement. The advertisement information to be displayed on the computer screens at the end of a game or which is part of on-line game playing is easily modified and effectively stored for later access and downloading.
Additional advantages of the present invention will become readily apparent from the following discussion, particularly when taken together with the accompanying drawings.